Practice
Slow down this morning. When you walk, know that you ar walking. Feel the floor beneath your feet; sense each little movement. When you shower, know that you are showering. Listen intently to the running water. This morning, experience what it is like to let nothing go unfelt, unheard, or unnoticed.
Just as you can make the first taste of the day count, the last taste is an opportunity to acknowledge your fullness and satisfaction. It can signify finding balance. Don’t take the last taste for granted.
Choose one unsatisfying habit you would like to change because you recognise that it does not represent the person you see yourself to be. The habit could be anything, such as smoking, emotional eating, opinionated behavior, or procrastination. Next, write down several nurturing activities you could substitute for the old habit, and make sure these activities can be initiated in a minute, such as reading a book, taking a short walk, stretching, calling a friend, listening to uplifting music, or taking a few meditative breaths. Finally, rehearse this visualisation until the new behaviour feels natural. Stay with the new activity for several minutes. After visualizing the change, you are ready to make the change in real time.
Today, keep in mind the following important question: What is one small kindness I can offer in the next sixty seconds? Whenever the quiestions arises in your mind, go into action. Send a kind email, smile at the next person you meet, or give someone a genuine compliment.
Write down three to five things that happened in your life for which you are grateful. Do this for a four-week period to see how it affects your life.
In the next day or week, take one driving trip where you are focuse only on your driving, with no distractions. Do this when you are alone, and try to be as present as you can every sixty seconds. When your mind wonders, to the past or the future, gently bring it back.
Use the next minute to make a list of all the things you cannot control about work. Then make a list of the things you can control. These are the streghts that help you to feel optimistic about work.
Do one small creative thing at your workplace.
Create your own definition of “failure” that takes into account the importance of learning and growing through mistakes and missteps.
As long as we see failure as something terrible, we will continue to avoid it, but without failure as a teacher, we cannot fully mature and learn the grace of acceptance. This is why failure is a process that leads to the path of success. The next time you notice you are being critical of yourself or your work, take sixty seconds to reappraise your judgement using the one-to-ten scale where seven is really ten.
Make a list of everything you can be thankful for in your work. You can start by listing all the things that your work makes possible in your life. Don’t be stingy with your gratitude as you consider all that your work provides for you. Carry the list with you to remind yourself what your job means for you and others in your life.
One of the best places to begin to extend forgiveness is to yourself.
May I forgive myself for harming another, either intentionally or unintentionally.
May I forgive others who have harmed me, either intentionally or unintentionally.
May I forgive myslef for harming myself, either intentionally or unintentionally.
For this one minute-practice with presence, find a quiet place to sit. This is an eyes-wide-open, body-wide-open exercise. Once you have settled in, take a couple of diaphragmatic breaths. As you breathe, bring your awarness entirely to the breath, and as you observe it, internally say, “So, this is the way my breath is.” You are not trying to change anything; you are being fully open to the breath as it is.
Next, look around your surrondigs. If you see something that is pleasing, notice that. When this occirs, internally say, “So, this is how I feel about that.”
Let yourself sit and notice in a neutral and impartial way. Just be present and open.
One minute mindfulness- Donald Altman
